CN101494279B

CN101494279B - Battery pack

Info

Publication number: CN101494279B
Application number: CN2008100090089A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张士松; 何明明; 唐向阳
Original assignee: Positec Power Tools Suzhou Co Ltd
Current assignee: Positec Power Tools Suzhou Co Ltd
Priority date: 2008-01-24
Filing date: 2008-01-24
Publication date: 2013-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 2028-01-24
Also published as: CN101494279A

Abstract

The invention relates to a battery pack which comprises a shell, a battery cell supported by the shell, and a circuit. The battery back comprises two interfaces which are opposite to each other; the first interface comprises a first terminal set of the circuit and the second interface comprises a second terminal set of the circuit; and the two terminal sets can be connected with an electric tool which is provided with a corresponding terminal set. Compared with the prior art, the battery pack has the advantages of being rapid and convenient as one battery packet can be jointed with an electric device with different combining interfaces and troubles caused by improper operation is avoided.

Description

Battery pack

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a battery pack, and more particularly, to a battery pack that can be connected and fixed to an electric device having different connection interfaces.

Background

The battery pack may power any cordless device, particularly cordless power tools in the power tool field. Since different power tools have different interfaces for receiving battery packs, each battery pack should be designed to interface with the power tool interface to provide suitable electro-mechanical interaction.

The traditional interfaces at present comprise a tower type interface and a rail type interface. When a tower interface is used, the battery pack case 1 includes an interface 6, as shown in fig. 14, and a protrusion 18 is formed on the interface 6, and a terminal set 2 is disposed inside the protrusion 18. The battery pack housing 1 further includes a button 10 and a latch 14 for locking the battery pack and the power tool. When it is desired to use, the battery pack projection 18 is inserted into the power tool recess and the button 10 is depressed to effect locking of the catch 14.

When using a rail interface, as shown in fig. 15, the battery pack case 1 includes an interface 8, the interface 8 includes two symmetrical grooves 20, and a terminal set 4 is disposed at the longitudinal front ends of the grooves 20. The battery pack housing 1 further includes a button 12 and a latch 16 for locking the battery pack and the power tool. When the battery pack is required to be used, the battery pack groove 20 is slipped into the raised strip of the electric tool, and then the button 12 is pressed down, so that the lock catch 16 plays a role in locking the battery pack groove and the raised strip.

While the interface of a conventional power tool and battery pack is generally considered acceptable, it is not without its drawbacks. For example: one type of electric tool can only be suitable for the same type of battery pack, namely, the battery pack with the tower type interface cannot charge the electric tool with the rail type interface. In response to this drawback, chinese patent CN200610168971 discloses a newly developed adapter that may allow to exclusively accommodate a battery pack having a second interface for a power tool having a first interface. However, the adapter may be lost, may require cumbersome handling, and may also cause other inconveniences. Moreover, as the interface size of the battery pack is large and each voltage is different, misoperation of a user is easily caused, and unexpected danger is easily caused when the battery packs with different voltages are placed on adapters with different voltages.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a battery pack capable of being jointed with electric devices with different matching interfaces, which is used for solving the problem of compatibility of the battery pack for different electric device interfaces.

The technical scheme adopted by the invention for solving the problems in the prior art is as follows:

a battery pack, comprising: the power tool includes a housing, a battery cell supported by the housing, and an electrical circuit including at least two terminal sets disposed in parallel with one another, each of the at least two terminal sets being directly engageable with the power tool. The at least two terminal sets include a first terminal set for engagement with a power tool having a first configuration and a second terminal set for engagement with a power tool having a second, different configuration.

The housing includes a protruding portion, and one of the at least two terminal sets is disposed inside the protruding portion. The shell is provided with a containing part, and the protruding part can rotate into or be pressed into the containing part along the axis; or the protruding part is connected with the shell in a plug-in mode, two contact sheets are arranged at the tail part of the protruding part, and contact sheet holes electrically connected with the contact sheets are formed in the shell.

The housing includes two symmetrical grooves, and one of the at least two terminal sets is disposed at a longitudinal front end of the groove.

The shell also comprises a plurality of locking mechanisms used for locking the battery pack and the electric tool, each locking mechanism comprises a button and a lock catch, the lock catches are matched with the openings of the electric tool, and the other lock catches are matched with the stopping parts of the electric tool.

Alternatively, still another battery pack includes: a housing, a battery cell supported by the housing, and an electrical circuit, the battery pack including opposing interfaces, a first interface having a first terminal set including a portion of the electrical circuit, and a second interface having a second terminal set including a portion of the electrical circuit, the terminal sets being selectively engageable with an electrical device having a corresponding terminal set, the electrical device including a power tool.

The shell also comprises a plurality of locking mechanisms used for locking the battery pack and the electric tool, and the locking mechanisms comprise buttons and lock catches. The lock catch is matched with the opening of the electric device, and the other lock catch is matched with the stopping part of the electric device.

The first interface includes a protruding portion, and the first terminal set is disposed inside the protruding portion. The second interface comprises two symmetrical grooves, and the second terminal group is arranged at the longitudinal front end of each groove.

The first interface includes a protruding portion, and the housing is provided with a receiving portion into which the protruding portion can be received. The housing is provided with a stop member having a first end for depressing and a second end for locking the projection. The outer periphery of the protruding portion is provided with a concave hole into which the second end of the stopper can extend.

Alternatively, still another battery pack includes: the battery pack includes an interface having at least two terminal sets simultaneously disposed thereon that contain portions of the electrical circuit, the at least two terminal sets being selectively engageable with an electrical device having a corresponding terminal set, the electrical device including a power tool.

The interface includes a removable projection, and the first terminal set is disposed within the projection. The protruding part is connected with the shell in a plug-in mode, two contact sheets are arranged at the tail part of the protruding part, and contact sheet holes electrically connected with the contact sheets are formed in the shell. The interface comprises two symmetrical grooves, and the second terminal group is arranged at the longitudinal front end of the grooves.

Alternatively, still another battery pack includes: the battery pack comprises at least two interfaces with different shapes, the interfaces are used for being matched and connected with the electric tool, a terminal group is arranged in any one interface, the terminal groups are electrically connected, and any one of the terminal groups can be directly jointed with the electric tool.

The at least two terminal sets include a first terminal set for engagement with a power tool having a first configuration and a second terminal set for engagement with a power tool having a second, different configuration. The at least two terminal sets are arranged in parallel with each other.

The housing includes a protruding portion, and one of the at least two terminal sets is disposed inside the protruding portion. The housing is provided with a receiving portion into which the protruding portion rotates or into which the axis is pressed. Or the protruding part is connected with the shell in a plug-in mode, two contact sheets are arranged at the tail part of the protruding part, and contact sheet holes electrically connected with the contact sheets are formed in the shell.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that: the battery pack can be connected with electric devices with different adapting interfaces, is quick and convenient, and does not cause unnecessary troubles due to improper operation; and the charger with different matching interfaces can be used for charging, so that the cost is saved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of a first embodiment of a battery pack according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a right side view of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a left side view of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 and 5 are schematic diagrams illustrating that the battery pack of the present invention can be coupled and fixed with different power tools.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a battery pack according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a second state diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view schematically showing a third embodiment of the battery pack of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along a-a in fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view schematically showing a fourth embodiment of the battery pack of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D of fig. 12.

Fig. 14 and 15 are prior art schematic diagrams of the present invention.

Wherein,

1

housing

2, 4 terminal set 6 first interface

7 battery core 8

second interface

10, 12 button

14, 16 lock 18 projection 20 recess

22 receiving portion 24 pin 26 stop

28 first end 30 second end 32 recess

34 spring 36 step 37 contact hole

38 contact piece 40 bottom surface of electric tool 41

42

recess

43, 44 terminal set 45 opening

46 convex strip 47 stopping part

Detailed Description

As shown in fig. 1-3, the preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses a battery pack comprising a housing 1, a battery cell 7 supported by the housing, and an electrical circuit including, in addition to conventional additional components and/or circuitry, two

terminal sets

2, 4, either of which is directly engageable with a power tool for completing the electrical circuit of the power tool, rather than the conventional effect of sensing whether the battery pack is mated with the power tool. The battery shell is also internally provided with a protection circuit as a part of the circuit, and the structure and the characteristics are the same as those of the prior art, so that the description is omitted. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the battery cell 7 of the present invention may suitably implement a variety of similar chemical characteristics, including: nickel-cadmium, nickel-hydrogen, and lithium ions, among others.

The housing 1 may support two

terminal sets

2, 4, and the circuit structure may be: the terminal sets 2, 4 are arranged in parallel with each other. That is, each of the terminal sets 2, 4 may be electrically connected to the same node on the circuit. The terminal sets 2, 4 may be operatively engaged with respective power tools, which may have different configurations (from a structural and/or electrical perspective). For example: the first terminal set 2 may be configured to engage with a power tool having a first configuration and the second terminal set 4 may be configured to engage with a power tool having a second configuration. In the present embodiment, 1 or 2 of the terminal sets 2, 4 may be connected to the power tool at the same time for a given time, and of course, the terminal sets 2, 4 may be provided in series with each other.

In this embodiment, each of the terminal sets 2, 4 may include a positive terminal and a negative terminal. However, the invention is not limited in this regard. For example, each terminal set 2, 4 may include a plurality of positive terminals and a plurality of negative terminals. Also, the number of wire terminals in one terminal set may be the same as or different from the number of wire terminals in another terminal set. The present invention is not limited to terminals having a particular configuration and numerous and various terminal configurations known to those skilled in the art may be suitably implemented. Although two

terminal sets

2, 4 are illustrated in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited in this regard. For example: more than two terminal sets may be suitably implemented.

As can be seen in connection with fig. 4 and 5, the present invention may be implemented for use with a power drill. However, the invention is not limited in this regard as it may be implemented on other power tools including lathes, mills, saws, planes, mills, and other cordless power tools that can be used with a battery pack. In the specific embodiment, a power tool is engaged with the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and includes other electric devices that can be powered using a battery pack.

The battery pack of this embodiment includes, in addition to the housing 1, the battery cell 7 supported by the housing, and the electrical circuitry, two opposing

interfaces

6, 8 that facilitate interconnection (both mechanical and electrical) with an electrical power tool having an alternative configuration. The first interface 6 comprises a first terminal set 2 comprising said electric circuit and the second interface 8 comprises a second terminal set 4 comprising said electric circuit, said two

terminal sets

2, 4 being directly connectable to an electric tool 40 having respective terminal sets 43, 44. For this purpose, and by way of example only, the first interface 6 is a tower interface portion and the second interface 8 is a rail interface portion. It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited in this regard as numerous combinations, alternative interface portions may be suitably implemented. The two interface portions will be discussed separately below. Also in this embodiment the

interfaces

6, 8 are arranged not to fit adapters.

(1) Tower interface section

The first interface 6 includes a protruding portion 18, and the terminal set 2 is disposed inside the protruding portion 18, which is an interface for mating with the power tool. The housing 1 is provided with a locking mechanism consisting of a button 10 and a latch 14. Correspondingly, the bottom surface 41 of the power tool 40 in fig. 4 is provided with a concave portion 42, which can be matched with the convex portion 18; an opening 45 is formed in the side of the bottom surface to mate with the latch 14.

When the battery pack is moved upward, the protruding portion 18 can enter the recessed portion 42 of the power tool 40. The projection 18 can be moved into the recess 42 sufficiently far so that the terminal set 2 of the battery pack engages the terminal set 43 provided at the bottom of the power tool recess 42. In this way, the power tool 40 may become electrically connected to the circuitry of the battery pack through the terminal set.

Also, as is well known to those skilled in the art, the button 10 may control the latch 14 to engage the opening 45 so that the battery pack may be removably mounted to the power tool 40.

(2) Rail type interface part

The second interface 8 opposite to the first interface comprises two symmetrical grooves 20, and the terminal group 4 is arranged at the longitudinal front end of the groove 20, namely the interface matched with the electric tool. The housing 1 is provided with a locking mechanism consisting of a button 12 and a catch 16. Correspondingly, the bottom surface 41 of the power tool 40 in fig. 5 is provided with a protruding strip 46, which can be matched with the groove 20; a stop portion 47 is provided inside the power tool and can be coupled with the latch 16.

As the pack moves in the orbital direction, the ribs 46 enter the grooves 20. The battery pack may be moved far enough in the orbital direction that the terminal set 4 of the battery pack engages the terminal set 44 disposed in the power tool. In this way, the power tool 40 may become electrically connected to the circuitry of the battery pack through the terminal set.

Furthermore, as is well known to those skilled in the art, the button 12 may control the engagement of the catch 16 and stop 47 so that the battery pack may be removably mounted to the power tool 40.

In this embodiment, when tower interface is engaged, the terminal set 2 is active and the terminal set 4 may be inactive, i.e., when the power tool 40 of fig. 4 is turned on, current may flow through the terminal set 2 and not through the terminal set 4. When the rail interfaces are engaged, the terminal set 4 is active and the terminal set 2 may be inactive, i.e., when the power tool 40 of fig. 5 is turned on, current may flow through the terminal set 4 and not through the terminal set 2. Since the terminal set of the non-bonded interface is exposed when the power tool 40 is operated, a protection cover (not shown) can be added to the present embodiment for protecting the terminal set of the non-bonded interface.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the structural and functional details of the tower interface and rail interface discussed above. For example, the locations of the shackle 14 and the opening 45 in FIG. 4 may be reversed; similarly, the positions of the grooves 20 and ribs 46 in FIG. 5 may be reversed. Moreover, numerous and alternative conventional mechanical structures may be suitably implemented to removably retain the battery pack to the housing of the power tool.

A problem arises when the battery pack of the present invention engages a power tool using a rail interface. As shown in fig. 5, the protruding portion 18 may have some influence on the use of the power tool. Without overcoming this drawback, the present invention discloses the following two embodiments.

Fig. 6-9 disclose a second embodiment of the present invention. The housing is provided with a single housing portion 22, and a stopper 26 is provided on each side of the housing portion 22. The stop 26 is pivotally mounted on the housing 1 and includes a first end 28 for depression and a second end 30 for locking the projection 18. The outer periphery of the protruding part 18 is symmetrically provided with two recesses 32, the second end 30 of the stopper can extend into the recesses 32 for fixing, and due to the action of a return spring (not shown), the second end 30 of the stopper always tends to extend into the recesses 32. A spring 34 is also provided at the end of the housing 22 inside the housing 1.

In the initial state, as shown in fig. 6 and 7, the second end 30 of the stop member 26 extends into the recess 32 with the male portion 18 in the secured position, and the battery pack may also be engaged with the power tool using a tower interface. When the operator manually presses the first end 28 of the stopper 26 in the direction of the arrow in fig. 7, the stopper 26 is rotated and the second end 30 is disengaged from the recess 32; projection 18 is then pressed along its axis into receptacle 22 and finally reaches the second state shown in fig. 8 and 9, in which projection 18 is fully received in receptacle 22. Projection 18 does not fall out of receptacle 22 because of the shoulder of projection 18 having step 36 that engages second end 30 of stop 26. The battery pack may now engage the power tool using the rail interface. When the operator manually presses the first end 28 of the stop 26 in the direction of the arrow in fig. 9, the stop 26 is rotated, the second end 30 thereof disengages from the step 36, and the projection 18 can project from the housing 22 under the action of the spring 34. When the second end 30 of the stopper 26 enters the recess 32 again, the battery pack returns to the original state.

Fig. 10-11 disclose a third embodiment of the present invention. A housing 22 is provided in the housing. The accommodating portion differs from the second embodiment in that one side surface thereof is open, rather than the side surface of the second embodiment being closed. The projection 18 is pivotally mounted on the housing 1 by a pin 24. A first end 28 of the stop 26 is disposed outside of the housing 1 and a second end 30 of the stop 26 is disposed in the receiving portion 22. In the initial state, the end surface of the second end 30 limits the rotation of the protruding portion 18. When the first end 28 is pressed to retract the second end 30 into the housing 1, the end face of the second end 30 disengages from the projection 18, and the projection 18 can be rotated into the receptacle 22; when the first end 28 is released, the second end 30 is returned by a return spring (not shown) and enters the recess 32 of the male part 18, so that the male part 18 does not fall out of the housing 22. The battery pack may now engage the power tool using the rail interface. Similarly, pressing and then releasing the first end 28 causes the projection 18 to rotate back to the initial state.

Fig. 12-13 disclose a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In contrast to the previous exemplary embodiment, two

different interfaces

18, 20 for connection to the power tool are provided on the same interface 6. The interface is constructed as in the other embodiments, namely, one is a projection 18 and the other is two symmetrical grooves 20. A first terminal group is provided inside the projecting portion 18; a second terminal set is disposed at a longitudinal front end of the groove. All of the terminal sets are connected in the electrical circuit of the battery pack and selectively engageable with a power tool having a corresponding terminal set.

Wherein the protruding portion 18 in this embodiment is connected to the housing 1 in a plug-in manner, which is mechanically detachable. Two contact pieces 38 are provided at the rear of the projecting portion 18, and contact piece holes 37 electrically connected to the contact pieces 38 are provided in the housing 1. When the contact 38 is inserted into the contact hole 37, the first terminal set inside the protruding portion 18 is connected to the internal circuit of the battery pack; and the contact piece 38 and the contact piece hole 37 are arranged to be tightly matched, so that the contact piece and the contact piece hole are matched together and cannot easily fall off. Of course, the locking mechanism in this embodiment is also disposed on the housing 1, and the arrangement and operation are the same as those in the previous embodiment, so that the detailed description thereof is omitted.

When the present embodiment employs the projection 18 to mate with the power tool housing 1, the electric circuit of the power tool is completed and power is supplied thereto through the first terminal group inside the projection 18. When the groove 20 is adopted to be matched and connected with the electric tool shell 1, the protruding part 18 needs to be firstly detached from the battery pack shell 1, then the battery pack is matched and connected with the electric tool in a sliding mode, and the second terminal group at the longitudinal front end of the groove can be connected with a circuit of the electric tool and supplies power to the electric tool.

There are numerous specific embodiments of the invention. All technical solutions formed by using equivalent substitutions or equivalent transformations fall within the scope of the claimed invention.

Claims

1. A battery pack, comprising: casing (1), battery core (7) and circuit by the casing support, its characterized in that: the housing further comprises first and second opposed interfaces, the circuit comprising at least two terminal sets (2, 4), each of the at least two terminal sets (2, 4) being directly engageable with a power tool (40), the first interface comprising a protruding portion (18) and one of the at least two terminal sets (2, 4) being disposed within the protruding portion (18), the second interface comprising two symmetrical grooves (20) and the other of the at least two terminal sets (2, 4) being disposed at a longitudinal forward end of the groove (20), the housing (1) being provided with a receiving portion (22), the protruding portion (18) being rotated into or pressed axially into the receiving portion (22).

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein: the at least two terminal sets (2, 4) include a first terminal set (2) for engaging with a power tool having a first configuration, and a second terminal set (4) for engaging with a power tool having a second, different configuration.

3. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein: the at least two terminal sets (2, 4) are arranged in parallel with each other.

4. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein: the shell (1) also comprises a plurality of locking mechanisms for locking the battery pack and the electric tool, and the locking mechanisms comprise buttons (10, 12) and lock catches (14, 16), wherein one lock catch (14) is matched with an opening (45) of the electric tool, and the other lock catch (16) is matched with a stopping part (47) of the electric tool.

5. A battery pack, comprising: casing (1), battery core (7) and circuit by the casing support, its characterized in that: the battery pack comprises two opposite interfaces (6, 8), a first interface (6) is provided with a first terminal set (2) containing part of the circuit, a second interface (8) is provided with a second terminal set (4) containing part of the circuit, said first and second terminal sets (2, 4) being selectively engageable with an electrically powered device (40) having respective terminal sets (43, 44), the first interface (6) comprises a protruding portion (18), the first terminal set (2) being arranged inside the protruding portion (18), the second interface (8) comprises two symmetrical grooves (20), the second terminal group (4) is arranged at the longitudinal front end of the grooves (20), the housing is provided with a receiving portion (22), into which receiving portion (22) the projecting portion (18) is rotated or pressed axially.

6. The battery pack according to claim 5, wherein: the electric device engaged with the battery pack is an electric power tool.

7. The battery pack according to claim 5, wherein: the shell (1) also comprises a plurality of locking mechanisms for locking the battery pack and the electric device, wherein the locking mechanisms comprise buttons (10, 12) and lock catches (14, 16), the lock catch (14) is matched with an opening (45) of the electric device, and the other lock catch (16) is matched with a stopping part (47) of the electric device.

8. The battery pack according to claim 5, wherein: the housing (1) is provided with a stop member (26), which stop member (26) comprises a first end (28) for pressing and a second end (30) for locking the projection (18).

9. The battery pack according to claim 8, wherein: the outer periphery of the projection (18) is provided with a recess (32), into which recess (32) the second end (30) of the stop member can protrude.

10. A battery pack, comprising: casing (1), battery core (7) and circuit by the casing support, its characterized in that: the housing further comprises a first interface and a second interface which are opposite to each other, the battery pack comprises at least two interfaces (18, 20) with different shapes, the interfaces are used for being matched with the electric tool, each interface is provided with a terminal group (2, 4), the terminal groups (2, 4) are electrically connected, any one of the terminal groups (2, 4) can be directly jointed with the electric tool (40), the first interface comprises a convex part (18), one of the at least two terminal groups (2, 4) is arranged in the convex part (18), the second interface comprises two symmetrical grooves (20), the other of the at least two terminal groups (2, 4) is arranged at the longitudinal front end of the groove (20), the housing (1) is provided with a containing part (22), the projection (18) is rotated into or pressed axially into the receptacle (22).

11. The battery pack according to claim 10, wherein: the at least two terminal sets (2, 4) include a first terminal set (2) for engaging with a power tool having a first configuration, and a second terminal set (4) for engaging with a power tool having a second, different configuration.

12. The battery pack according to claim 11, wherein: the at least two terminal sets (2, 4) are arranged in parallel with each other.

13. The battery pack according to claim 10, wherein: the shell (1) also comprises a plurality of locking mechanisms for locking the battery pack and the electric tool, and the locking mechanisms comprise buttons (10, 12) and lock catches (14, 16), wherein one lock catch (14) is matched with an opening (45) of the electric tool, and the other lock catch (16) is matched with a stopping part (47) of the electric tool.